America feels threatened by Russia reasserting itself on the world stage, and the press conference by Vladimir Putin proves that, Brian Becker Director of the anti-war Answer Coalition told RT.

RT:Did anything stand out for you in
President’s Putin news conference in particular?

Brian Becker: Well the event itself struck me. I
mean here is the head of state in Russia allowing 1300
journalists to ask questions freely, in contrast to what goes on
in the US where the president, despite the fact that it the US
proclaims to be freest country and has a great free press, the
president only has the scripted kinds of press conferences with
softball questions. I think the event itself is interesting. I
think many people in the West, particularly the US, would
certainly like many more sessions where political leaders are
challenged by tough questions.

RT:Despite what Putin said about the
success of deals on Syria and Iran... Critics say Russia's
relations with the West today are at a new low. Are they?

BB: Well you have to look at what does it mean
to have a lifetime low type of relationship with the West. During
the period of Boris Yeltsin, right after the fall of the Soviet
Union, perhaps the approval rating of Yeltsin were very high, but
what conditions were the Russian people in, what condition was
Russia as a major power? It was seen as a weakened power. Some
see it as almost as a play thing of Western powers. In the recent
period the Russian government has reasserted itself as a major
player. In the case of Syria, it stuck as its ally and demanded a
political settlement, that is what the people in Syria wanted,
that is what the people in the region wanted. Ultimately
President Obama grabbed a hold of that that as a lifeline,
because he was so severely politically isolated. And in the case
of Iran, the Russian government has recommended what the people
of the world want, which is a diplomatic settlement for a crisis
which is largely created as a pretext by Western powers who want
to undo another independent government. So maybe the governments
in the West are revering Putin’s position, but generally the
positions he has taken on these issues have favorable response in
the Western public opinion at least.

RT:Vladimir Putin seemed to go out of his
way to offer olive branches - hinting at the chance of
reconciliation with many less-than-friendly nations. Why
now?

BB: Well I think the Russian government is well
aware that the US is not content with the fact that there may be
a multi-polar world that the US thought. Maybe it was a fantasy,
I believe but they thought that there would sort of be a unipolar
world, where the US would be the giant and sole superpower.
Russia has reasserted its authority, both diplomatically,
militarily, economically. And so the Russian government now is
trying to be prudent in terms of establishing or minimizing some
of the hostility that has been generated, perhaps mostly by
Western countries, other by other regional players too. But this
was the occasion for diplomacy on the part of Putin. Whether it's
sincere, whether it’s just diplomatic, we’ll see.

RT:Were you surprised President Putin was
not more critical of America's surveillance tactics?

BB: Putin made a point that the Russian
government and all governments engage in statecraft, including
espionage. I think that that is true. I think what’s going on
really is Snowden opened the door for public opinion in the West
which did not know about the spying, did not know about the
massive data collection, and would rise up against it. I think
that’s what’s going on. Because the Russian government gave
temporary asylum to Snowden, perhaps Putin is taken a prudent
position, not wanting to go out of his way to appear to be a
friend of Snowden’s or a supporter of that enterprise. Of course
he is in the hot seat because in US, especially in the United
States, by President Obama and by Congress, the act of Russia
giving temporary asylum to Snowden is considered to be extreme
hostility towards the US.